Stalking Doom
Stalking Doom is a Raid Event scheduled to start on July 1, 2015 at 12:00 AM (PST) and end on July 7, 2015 at 7:59 PM (PST). Half-time reward calculation Period is from July 2nd 7:00 PM to 7:59 PM (PST). __TOC__ Feature Сhanges * 100% Animated UR Ticket added for Individual Top Rankers. * During the Event period, there are two Power Potions available every day at the Crystal Exchange. Raid Bosses Skill Cards * Tree-Absorbed Esflonné (UR) Anti-Raid Boss Skill Card * Journeywoman Zona (UR) Anti-Hidden Raid Boss Skill Card * Prominent Aldorea (UR) Anti-Secret Raid Boss Skill Card * Doubly Haunted Faune (UR) Special Evolution Card blocks Bosses attacks. Story Crows. Wild dogs. The rotten smell of blood and flesh. Flies... and bodies. Apocalyptic horrors scattered all across the forsaken city, even you were reluctant to enter. It was less city than morgue, you thought, grimacing. Few traces of damage could be seen on the neat rows of buildings and trees. In fact, it was clear that until a mere few days prior, this had been a bustling and cosmopolitan center of commerce, replete with a population of ordinary people going about ordinary lives. Even in this grim and foreboding air, the flowers were still flushed with life, out in full and glorious bloom. It was as if one night all of those ordinary people had suddenly fallen to the ground and died... Those ordinary people, who were now strewn about the streets and covered in dried blood. It was a good idea to leave Elimval behind, you thought. You would rather she not bear witness to such a gruesome scene, and after laying eyes on it yourself it was obvious that it would have caused her great distress. After covering your mouth with a handkerchief pulled from your satchel, you decided to head off on a stroll about the town. It was clear that the townsfolk had met their ends in numerous different ways. You caught sight of bodies swinging from nooses --some in pairs--bodies with throats slit, and bodies with limbs contorted at horrific angles after having fallen from the rooftops. They lay with their mouths open, as if letting out anguished screams. The entire town was like some madman's twisted diorama. You found it impossible to make sense of it. The Circle... "Salvation through death"... suicide. This was their handiwork... Promising some kind of redemption in return for their lives. You approached and knelt before the body of a man lying in an undignified position face down on the dirt. As you reached out in an attempt to reorient his body... "Don't move!!" Along with the sudden command, you felt the cold steel of a wicked-sharp sickle pressed up against your neck. Twisting your body and forcing the weapon away from you in reflex, you then turned and unleashed a roundhouse kick at your assailant's hand with all your strength. After a short wail of pain, the blade dropped to the ground, and the assailant, who you could now see was a woman, shot her hands up into the air in bewildered surrender. "Wh-who are you?! I thought that... since you're wandering around here, you must have been... him..." Once you saw the assailant unarmed and with her hands up, you relaxed your posture. She dropped her arms, let out a deep and pained sigh, and began to nurse the hand you had just struck. "Don't you think I deserve an apology?" Still maintaining vigilance, you begrudgingly mumbled one as you stared at the ground. ... Sensing that she was anticipating more from you, you continued with an explanation of your presence. You spoke of the informant who had told you that there was a man going about indiscriminately laying waste to entire cities, and that following his trail had led you to here, this town. "Oh... you're... a Hero..." After briefly chortling, she fixed a wary gaze upon you, as if eyeing a criminal suspect. "All right then, no need for us to fight each other. I'm Maria." From her posture and tone, you got the sense that ideally she would have preferred to have nothing to do with you. Feeling slightly hurt that you'd been mistaken for a miscreant, you began to regret your choice of outfit. In order to prevent yourself from being exposed to the putrid air, you had covered the lower half of your face and wrapped yourself up in rags. You felt that merely exposing your skin to this air would likely cause you to contract some kind of illness. But taking the time to consider your appearance objectively, you acknowledged that perhaps you had made yourself appear as somewhat of a suspicious character. You felt that the least you could do would be to remove the cloth from your face and meet Maria's gaze. "You're after that man too, then... I guess that would make you an ally, not an enemy!" Stopping not even for a moment to consider how you might be feeling, Maria appeared to ponder something while stroking her chin. It was then you wondered what she herself was doing in such a grisly place. Your posing of this question was met with a concise and matter-of-fact response. "My hometown was destroyed. By him." She made no comparison between her home and this town, but you guessed that the former had met a similarly gruesome fate. Her voice did not carry any particular anguish, but you could not help but notice the disquiet in her eyes. "I've been on his tail for a little while now... and I think I might know where he's likely to show up next..." She withdrew a map from her backpack, and proceeded to point at it while explaining how she had been tracking the man, and how she had plotted his trail of destruction. You attained a clearer idea of just how many towns and cities he had turned into morgues, and just how many people had taken their own lives in his wake. As she spoke her words became tinged with anger, and her tone colored with hatred. "What's most despicable about him is that he manipulates people's thoughts. Those who fall under his influence either kill themselves or each other. Families and friends turn on one another. My parents were so close... but they died after stabbing each other in their hearts..." Letting her anger get the better of her, she attacked the ground with her sickle. The loud, dull sound it made as it struck against the hard earth was the aural embodiment of her rage. "I reckon it hasn't even been three days since he passed through here... This time, I'm going to catch up to him. And then..." Maria's eyes narrowed, and she began to whisper, as if uttering a curse. "Rend, rip, tear, stab, carve, rend, rip, tear..." she repeated, as you recoiled. You could see that the pain in her heart ran deep. You considered attempting to warn her against allowing rage to overwhelm her, but being someone without a full picture of how events had unfolded, you wondered how much she would be inclined to heed your words. You opened your mouth, and without saying anything, ended up closing it again, and waited for her to finish her chant. "He's coming after this place next.." Maria extended a thin index finger and pointed towards the upper regions of the map. Her finger came to rest to the northwest of your present location and she nodded her head, with an air of certainty. She then drew her finger away from the map and oriented it towards you. "To be honest, I wondered whether I'd have what it takes to strike him down on my own. I'd appreciate the support if you're after him too, but we better hurry!" As she rolled up the map and began to make off, you stopped her in her tracks. You were willing to follow her, but not alone. "What? Is there someone else you want to bring along?" Unsure of what to say, you settled on informing that you were with your maid. ... "It's huge..." Craning her neck upwards to look at the grand sanctuary, Elimval gasped in amazement. Without a doubt, it was grander than the scale that it being called a "sanctuary" would suggest. Put simply, it was an outrageously large and cube-shaped box, carved from stone. Surely it had existed for eons. Its vertices and trimmings showed signs of their age and of having been laid bare at the mercy of the wind. However, its imposing majesty was still very much intact. "I have a feeling there might be monsters in there..." "Make no mistake about it. Inside this sanctuary dwells the woman known as the Dragon Priestess, who gives life to new dragons through a special ritual, or so they say. Apparently, the ritual has been carried out since antiquity..." After hearing Maria's words and looking up at the sanctuary again, it wasn't difficult to imagine fearsome dragons being concealed inside those giant stone walls. Maria began to climb the stairs that led inside the sanctuary, but suddenly stopped to take a seat on one of the steps. "Oh, are you all right? Are you worn out?" "No, I'm fine... Such kindness. It's wasted on being a maid for someone like that." "...Excuse me? How so?" Perhaps nonplussed, Elimval rested her head on her hands, and appeared to ponder. You began to ponder along with her. There was a clear difference between the way that Maria treated Elimval, and the way she treated you. Her treatment of you was thorny, and somewhat belligerent. You wondered what you had done to deserve this, and unusually for you, you hit upon the reason straight away. The kick. "Never mind! Protect the Priestess, okay? I'll stay out here, and wait for him to arrive..." "No, let us remain here and do battle together!" "It's fine. You guys head off." Had she brought you along as back-up in case she was not able to overpower the man on her own? In any case, it seemed that she wanted to exact her vengeance on him on her own terms, by her own hand. You sympathized with how she must have felt. But... "No. We can't do that" "What? Why not?" "Listen, if we were to leave without you... something terrible might happen to you." Denying such a heartfelt wish was not easy. Maria crossed her arms, looked up and the sky and stared at the clouds as they drifted by. "It's fine! If I get into trouble, I'll split." After a few moments had passed, she added: "I promise." Not entirely convinced that she would stick to her word, you decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and make your way inside the sanctuary. Climbing the enormous stairway and arriving at the entrance, you already felt somewhat out of breath. You cast your gaze back down at Maria. Utterly motionless, she was lying in anticipation of her foe's arrival. "Will she be all right...?" Wanting to assuage Elimval's misgivings, you nodded affirmatively. ... A slight chill permeated the air inside the sanctuary. Ancient and unfamiliar glyphs adorned the inner walls. They were accompanied by etchings of dragon-like creatures hatching from eggs, and sconces housing burning torches. "Hey, can you read these?" You turned to examine the glyphs as you shuffled forwards, while Elimval kept her gaze trained on your face. Of course, you had not the faintest hope of being able to decipher any of them. When you shook your head, she sniggered as if having seen something amusing. "As I thought..." After several minutes of staring at the script for no particular reason as you strode forwards, you emerged into a rather spacious chamber. The chamber was illuminated by a number of enormous cressets that burned with dancing flames dotted around the room. In the center of the chamber, atop a large and thickish rug, sat a woman with her hands pressed together as if in prayer. Her snow-white hair contrasting with rich, cocoa-colored skin, there was something otherworldly about her. As you and Elimval crept cautiously towards her, the woman suddenly separated her hands and slowly rose to her feet, turning to face you. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. My name is Ignis." Her deep bow was returned by one equally refined from Elimval. You hurried to do the same, unfortunately aware of how awkward you appeared. "Ignis, we sincerely apologize for disturbing you. My name is Elimval. This is..." Of the two of you, when it came to manners and the niceties of human interaction, Elimval undoubtedly held the upper hand. Even out of the corner of your eye, you could see how relaxed and comfortable she was in this situation. You were reminded anew of her value in such regards, even though she was not necessarily a maid anymore. "Disturbing me? I know you've come here to protect me. I'm deeply thankful, and your presence is most welcome." Elimval, presumably astounded that the woman had sussed your reason for being there so easily, raised her hand to her mouth, and her face was a picture of surprise. Judging by Ignis' brief grin and the way she dropped her gaze to the floor, your face must have appeared similarly. She attempted to address your unvoiced doubts. "The one ordained as the Dragon Priestess is bestowed with a holy power. The light to overcome the darkness... it has arrived... If the three of you hadn't come, my dragons and I would have fallen to madness and killed ourselves, or massacred each other..." Ignis turned to face you, and brought her hands together in gratitude. Embarrassed, you started scratching your forehead, feeling too self-conscious to meet Ignis' eyes. "Oh, by the way, there are dragons in here, is that correct? "Well, the next one's still inside his egg at the moment, but it shouldn't be more than a few days before he hatches..." A fascinated Elimval whirled about while looking around the chamber. She showed no signs of fatigue. All of a sudden, Ignis placed her hand on top of her head, bringing her to a halt. "I-... yes? What is it?" "There are no eggs in here. They're futher inside. Let's go and take a look at them later." "Wh-...why did you put your hand on my head?" Bewildered, Elimval shot a glance in your direction. Shrugging your shoulders, you signaled to her that you were none the wiser. Perhaps she had done it for the same reason someone pets an adorable small animal, but Ignis was enigmatic, and you found it difficult to read her intentions. "Today has been full of mysteries, has it not?" After seeing Elimval's troubled expression and letting out a cautious laugh, you suddenly became aware of the sound of footsteps growing louder and closer. Suddenly, you were alert. You turned to face the entrance through which you had entered the chamber. After a few moments, a number of soldiers accompanied by monsters burst through the doorway. You could see at first glance that none among them was of sound mind. "They're attacking?! Where's Maria?!" Whether she had been overcome or had run away, you were in no position to be worrying about her. You took a moment to ask Ignis if she knew of an escape route. "Escape? I have a duty to protect the precious dragon eggs. And if a dragon succumbed to the madness..." The consequences would be dire. Your first priority was now clear. You asked Ignis where the dragon eggs were. "Here!" she cried, leading the way as she dashed out of the chamber. You and Elimval followed her, sprinting through the dim sanctuary, very much conscious of the contagious madness on your heels... Epilogue Chapters/quests Raid bosses Individual rewards Half-time rankings Final rankings Lucky ranking Mega lucky ranking Daily ranking Repel rewards Guild Rewards Final Rankings Repel Rewards Category:Raid Events Category:Stalking Doom